S9 Ep. 4 / Tiffany Higginbotham: Safe in Our Body
The counseling and medical communities often take different routes to help their patients heal or relieve their symptoms. Counselors can focus on the mental and spiritual and ignore the body while medical professionals may overlook the mental and spiritual influence on our bodies. In this episode, we’re joined by our friend and physical therapist Tiffany Higginbotham who encourages a holistic view of our minds, souls, and bodies so we can find healing in our suffering stories.
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For those of you who enjoy behind the scenes videos, here is an unedited video of Episode 4 of Season 9:
For the full unedited transcript from this episode click here.
We’re excited to welcome our dear friend, Tiffany Higginbotham, to this episode! Tiffany is a physical therapist who specializes in pelvic floor therapy and is the co-founder of BrainPump. She is passionate about helping her patients find healing not just for their bodies but also their minds and souls.
In the counseling and medical communities, we’ve witnessed a disconnect. Sometimes in counseling, the mind, soul, and heart are emphasized and the physical body can be overlooked, while in medical fields, the physical body is emphasized but the other three can all too often be ignored. As we explore a biblical framework for trauma, we must recognize the first thing God gives humans to steward is their bodies, and the effects of suffering can influence the body as well as the mind, soul, and heart. Trauma can fragment our identity and cause us to wrestle with complex emotions and with God. It also influences the brain and body’s reactions to future experiences, ability to process, communicate, and self-regulate.
As we recognize how trauma affects our whole person, we can learn compassion for ourselves in our own wrestling and healing and for others as we walk alongside them. In this episode, we discuss the physical means God has created to help us return to our window of tolerance and offer exercises and practices we can use to regulate our body and focus on the Father’s promises. As we understand the physiological responses God designed in our bodies, we can better serve sufferers and encourage physical, mental, and spiritual healing.
Note: While we do not endorse the beliefs of the company who produced the above guided breathwork exercise, the video itself does encourage useful breathwork practices.
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Known Ministries is Alex Kocher and Brenda Payne.